In his prepared statement for tomorrow’s House subcommittee hearing on FirstNet oversight, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai says the auctions will likely not raise enough money to fund the NPSBN because the only condition is that the revenues cover the costs of the auctions themselves. The goal must be instead to maximize revenues.
He also says the proposed method of limiting auction participants by modifying the local market spectrum screen (the amount of spectrum any wireless company can hold in a market before triggering review) will be detrimental to the auction, especially for carriers who already own large amounts of spectrum. He is opposed to spectrum caps and narrowing the spectrum screen for this reason. He is also concerned about the possibility of the FCC limiting the prices that broadcasters can ask for their spectrum, because it would decrease the participants.
AT&T proposed an all-IP test bed suite to help the FCC decide how to approach an all-IP telecom world. Pai supports this proposal and says although some things must remain the same, such as 911, there should be no tariffs, arcane cost studies, or hidden subsidies that distort competition to benefit companies over consumers.
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